Baiocco has just returned from ISM Cologne 2026 with a notebook full of notes and a clearer idea of where our industry is heading. ISM is like that: two intense, sometimes chaotic days where you see concentrated in a few halls what the confectionery and bakery market will do in the coming months.
This article is our account from the trade show: what we observed walking among the stands, talking with manufacturers, distributors, and potential partners. And above all: what of all this is relevant for those who, like us, work every day with natural flavorings, colorants, and ingredients for the food industry.
ISM 2026 in brief: the numbers and atmosphere of the trade show
This year’s numbers confirm ISM as the global reference event for the confectionery and bakery world: over 38,000 visitors from more than 150 countries and approximately 1,500 exhibitors from Europe, Asia, and America. But more than the numbers, what struck us was the atmosphere.
The phrase we heard most often, in very different stands, was “natural and credible.” Not just “natural”—that is now taken for granted.
The challenge has shifted to credibility: products that are simple for consumers to understand, technically complex for those who formulate them. The concept of indulgence has not disappeared, but has merged with health, functionality, and transparency.
Pleasure is no longer in contradiction with well-being. In fact, the most interesting products we saw held them together without compromise.
Three innovations that impressed us
Clean label and free-from on an industrial scale
Several manufacturers presented recipes without sugar, gluten, or lactose that two years ago would have been laboratory projects. Today they are production lines.
The difference is made by fibers, natural sweeteners, and—here we enter our territory—natural flavorings capable of compensating for what free-from removes from the organoleptic profile.
For a company like Bayo, which has the technical expertise to stabilize taste even in the most restricted formulations, this is direct confirmation: the market needs exactly what we know how to do.
The hybridization between confectionery and functional
Candies with ingredients for athletes. Snacks with energy claims. Baked goods with nutraceutical supplementation.
The line between confectionery and functional food has thinned to the point of disappearing in several stands. The critical point, however, remains taste: adding functionality without sacrificing pleasure requires precise flavor formulation work.
This is where flavoring stops being a decorative ingredient and becomes the element that holds the product’s promise together.
Sensory experiences linked to lifestyle
Freeze-dried ice cream, Asian dragées, alcoholic gummies to be consumed like cocktails, single-portion packaging with object-like design.
We saw products designed to generate an experience even before a flavor. The packaging becomes part of the flavor identity, and the flavor becomes part of the brand positioning.
For those who do our work, this opens an interesting space: no longer just developing flavor profiles that work in the process, but co-designing sensory experiences with the client.
The three trends that will shape the coming months
Natural first: it is no longer an option, it is the standard
A very significant fact we observed: over 70% of the stands offered at least one line declared as natural or vegan.
Clean label, free-from, sugar reduction are no longer elements of differentiation; they are the baseline expectation. Those who do not offer them simply no longer have a seat at the table.
For Bayo it is confirmation: our expertise in natural flavorings and the industrial stability of clean label formulations positions us exactly where the market is heading.
Integrated sustainability, not declared
Cocoa substitutes based on carob, plant-based colorants, packaging that reassures without shouting.
The sustainability we saw at ISM was not in the claims; it was in the processes. No one was shouting “green.” Everyone was showing what they were actually doing.
For our R&D approach, the lesson is clear: sustainability must be incorporated in a tangible and demonstrable way, not told as storytelling.
International flavors and fusion bakery
Soft baked goods, pancakes, tall cakes, sour notes, hot & honey combinations.
The cross-contamination between different confectionery traditions is not a curiosity from a side stand: it was everywhere.
Over 60% of the visitors we spoke with were actively seeking fusion flavors. A confirmation of what we also observe in our daily work: flavor fusion design is one of the areas where demand is growing most rapidly.
The opportunities we identified
Stabilized natural flavorings for free-from products
We saw it in several European bakery and confectionery stands: those who produce free-from need flavorings that compensate for organoleptic losses without adding complexity to the label.
For us it is a high-priority opportunity. The next step is to develop targeted application tests with selected partners, bringing the concrete cases we saw at the trade show into the laboratory.
Co-design of functional flavorings for snacks and energy bites
In the stands dedicated to functional candy, we gathered a strong signal: brands developing functional snacks are looking for partners with technical expertise in flavor formulation, not simple catalog suppliers.
They want someone to support them in designing the sensory profile of the product. It is exactly the type of work we do every day with our clients, from consulting on the flavor profile to validation in the process.
The contacts initiated: three conversations to transform into projects
At ISM Cologne we did not just go to observe. We initiated concrete conversations with different interlocutors—premium distributors, functional snack manufacturers, companies with competencies complementary to ours—and on topics that directly touch our daily work.
With some, the discussion focused on the traceability of our natural flavorings and the possibility of developing private label lines.
With others, the dialogue started from co-design: flavor profiles designed together, from initial consulting to validation in the process. There were also less predictable exchanges, with entities that partly compete with us but with whom we found spaces of industrial complementarity on fusion lines.
Several of these dialogues have already become follow-ups with sampling and structured proposals. Trade shows also serve this purpose: to start conversations you had not planned and that sometimes lead further than those on the agenda.
Three lessons that will change the way we work
Transparency in the supply chain is a real competitive advantage
We conducted a simple test: asking competitors at the trade show to detail the sourcing of their natural flavorings. Many could not answer with precision.
For those who work with Bayo, this transparency is already a reality: total traceability from raw material to finished product, documented and verifiable.
In a market where consumers demand to know what is inside and where it comes from, having concrete answers is not a plus: it is what keeps you in the game.
Flavor fusion is not a passing trend
This is not the first time we have heard about fusion in our industry. But at ISM Cologne 2026 the scope was different.
No longer a side wing of the trade show, but a widespread presence. For us it is confirmation that flavor fusion design is a work direction to continue investing in—and the profiles we are developing in this area go exactly in the direction the market is asking for.
SMEs are not looking for a supplier. They are looking for a partner.
This is perhaps the most significant lesson. The small and medium-sized enterprises we met do not want a catalog to browse.
They want someone who enters their process, understands their product, and helps them develop it. Consulting and co-design, not just supply.
For Bayo, it is confirmation of a direction that is already part of our way of working: supporting the client in product development, not just supplying an ingredient. Consulting, co-design, process testing. This is how the best results are born.
What happens now
A trade show is worth the time you invest in it if what you bring home becomes concrete work. The contacts initiated at ISM Cologne have already become phone calls, sampling, and initial proposals.
The ideas gathered are entering our laboratories. This is how it works for us: observe, return home, put into practice.
Meanwhile, the calendar continues: in March we will be at SpecialChef Rome with a focus on trends and flavor innovation. In May we fly to Singapore for ProPak Asia (this time as exhibitors) to bring our natural flavorings to the Asian market.
ISM Cologne 2026 gave us a clear map. The confectionery and bakery market is asking for innovation partners, not simple suppliers.
Flavorings that build product identity, not just add flavor. And supply chain transparency that makes the difference in choosing a supplier.
See you at the next event.